NEWS

Legion Lock up Playoff Spot With Win Over Elite

Legion Lock up Playoff Spot With Win Over Elite

By: MLR Correspondent, Colton Strickler

Austin Elite Rugby traveled to San Diego on Sunday evening to take on the Legion in a match that wrapped up a weekend that carried heavy playoff implications around Major League Rugby.

With both Austin (3-5) and San Diego (4-3) desperately needed a win to help them lock up one of the two remaining spots in the MLR Playoffs set to take place at Infinity Park on June 30. With so much on the line, it was the Legion who won the match 31-17, locking up a playoff spot and depriving the Elite of a valuable bonus point.

San Diego and Austin traded penalty kicks in the first 10 minutes of the match to knot the game at three points apiece, but it was the Legion that took over the match from there.

The first try of the match came in the 15th minute when Legion scrum-half took a pick-and-go out of the back of the breakdown into the in-goal. Fly-half Tadgh Leader’s conversion gave the Legion a 10-3 lead.

San Diego wouldn’t trail the rest of the match.

Leader padded the 7-point lead 10 minutes later with his second penalty kick of the match. That wasn’t the end of the Legion’s run. After Leader pinned Austin deep in their own territory, San Diego prop Nathan Sylvia rode a driving maul in for a try to give the Legion an 18-3 lead heading into the half.

Austin’s first real opportunity to put an end to San Diego’s run came on a penalty kick in the second half, but fly-half Timothee Guillimin pushed the attempt wide left. The Legion made him pay for it a few minutes later when Leader converted a penalty kick of his own to extend the lead to 18.

After 37 scoreless minutes, the Elite put an end to their drought with an explosive try from Pita Naruma, who took an offload from eight-man Pedrie Wannenburg. Gullimin’s conversion cut the Legion’s lead to 11, but Leader added another penalty kick to bring it back up to 14 before the second water break.

Austin did its best to close the gap in the last 20 minutes, and it all started with a Sani Taylor try, set up by newly acquired Louis Stanfill, in the 72nd minute. Guillimin’s conversion cut the lead to 7 which not only put them in range of the bonus point,, but gave them a chance to win.

The Legion slammed the door on Austin’s attempt at a comeback in the 78th minute when outside centre Ryan Matyas kicked an errant Elite pass into the in-goal, jumping on it for the final try of the match. Not only did Matyas hand the Elite a loss, he also ripped their bonus point out of their hands in the process.

The Elite finished the regular season with 18 points and currently sit in the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of the last week of action, but the Utah Warriors are hot on their heels with 17 points and one final match to play. Austin will need Utah to not pick up any points when they take on the Houston SaberCats in their final match of the season. If Utah either wins outright or earns a bonus point in a loss, they’ll leap over Austin for the final playoff spot based on point differential.

While San Diego earned a playoff berth with their win, they’ll have a chance to not only build up some valuable momentum with a win against the first-place Glendale Raptors on Saturday, June 23, they’ll also lock up the third seed. If they do not earn any points in their final match of the season and Utah wins their match, the Warriors can knock the Legion down a spot in the standings.

Scoring

San Diego Legion

Tries: Nick Boyer, Nathan Sylvia, Ryan Matyas

Penalties: Tadgh Leader (4/4)

Conversions: Tadgh Leader (2/3)

Austin Elite Rugby

Tries: Pita Naruma, Sani Taylor

Penalties: Timothee Guillimin (1/2)

Conversions: Timothee Guillimin (2/2)

Colton can be reached at colton@usmlr.com.